Robert Rowe's Rehearsal Reflections - Day 3We now have a full complement and it’s all systems go. Now that cast and crew are all ship-shape and Bristol fashion it’s full steam ahead and THE SEAGULL is making good headway with all hands on deck. Our director steers a tight course (OK, a seagull’s a marine bird but belay those nautical metaphors now. Ed.) (Aye-aye sir.)

Cast and wardrobe team brought in some fine gear for the costume parade, and the press stopped by to photograph some high points of the action. There were lively exchanges about the shooing of horses, and some flaring of nostrils as artistic rivals exchanged not-so-subtle put-downs. Nina and Kit did a fair amount of kissing. We mulled over suggestions for transition music between Acts 3 and 4. For day 3, we’re in a good place.

Kevin Black of County Border News directs the photo shoot and provides some fab photos

Andrew Mulquin as Simon the School Teacher whp's in love with Stella his real life partner Clare Juliette

The horses need re-hooving you see says Victor to Irina as an excuse for not letting her and Paulina ride into town on horseback Peter (Robert Rowe) his Sister Irina (Carmen Rodriguez), Victor - the manager of Peter's estate (John Craggs) and his wife Paulina (Jessica Clements)

Thank you to Rachel Hosken (and to The Seagull) for providing this rather appropriate photo of Minack wildlife at lunchtime yesterday! Looking forward to rehearsals continuing this Wednesday & Thursday. CAPTION suggestions welcome!

Day 2 of The Seagull started briskly - another glorious morning of sunshine as we cracked on with rehearsing. Robert Rowe kindly agreed to write a blog each day (time permitting!) of The Seagull rehearsals. It is good to get feedback from an actor's point of view. The simple pleasure of working with excellent actors on a piece of great theatre was what I left the room with today. The dynamics of a scene. How one thought can change the entire arc of a relationship and then drive the play off in a new way. How every nuance in Chekhov is part of that crackling fire burning away beneath the surface. And the group excitement of finding a moment that references the whole - that directs the play's meaning forward, heightening character relationships and playing with audience expectation.

Robert's Subjective Impressions

Stephen Ashmore Blakely as Eugene Dorn

"What musical instrument does the cloud above Boris and Nina look like -a susaphone, was it? Who exactly was Maupassant? Where is Victor theschoolteacher offered a job? Which is Peter's favourite theatre land restaurant? Is Irina just a B-lister? Which poet does Eugene love to quote? (And now, a mini spoiler warning:) Why does Kit shoot the seagull? Who are all these people really in love with? Themselves? Up to a point.... Day two in Soper Hall, our commodious rehearsal space, and the questions are flying. Want to know the answers? Book now!"

The first day of a production can be quite nerve- racking for all concerned, but on this occasion the sun was shining through the large arched windows of The Soper Hall and thanks to the deft stage management of Kat and Georgina, there were chairs and tables set up and a kettle boiling. A cup of coffee and we were off - a few logistics, a welcome to the company that will collaborate on this wonderful Chekhovian piece, to perform in our local Caterham Festival and then tour to the epic, awe-inspiring venue that is the Minack Theatre, on the rocks at Porthcurno. So with excitement we dived in. The read through ran at around an hour and a half and there was a general consensus that the adaptation read fluently (which was a relief!). Great to hear a script for the first time - from it come so many new thoughts, themes and ideas as to where the Chekhov is leading us. Add 10 fabulous actors and their comments to the mix and you have a company of creatives responding, reacting, inhabiting the characters and drawing Chekhov into the now.

Though this adaptation is based on a 1915 translation by Julius West - (published exactly 100 years ago - I was amazed to find after purchasing on Ebay that I was reading a first edition!) - this is a contemporary adaptation and as Jennie pointed out, some of the prosaic nature of older translations has been stripped away. The essence of the piece remains. The themes of the play - lack of fulfilment, frustration and mental insecurities are overridden by the sense of a yearning - a need - for love in all its forms - a love that transcends the mundane necessities of life and drives all of us, for good or bad, to what we become.

Having sung the last 2 Sundays with @lazenby_sings @davidgold's NGSOpenGardens events in aid @StCHospice which drew record crowds and raised record donations on Easter Sunday I managed to have a lovely chat with @davidgold and his assistant Paula. AND they have very generously agreed to not only do SMORGASBARD 2015 in the Chalet Gardens on 21 June at 3pm as part of the Caterham Festival, BUT also are allowing us to perform our modern adaptation of Anton Chekhov's THE SEAGULL in the Chalet Gardens also as part of the Caterham Festival.

We are therefore very excited to announce that we will be performing THE SEAGULL in The Chalet Gardens, Tupwood Lane, Caterham CR3 6ET on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 May 2015 at 7pm. Tickets can be bought via our Box Office section of our website and should be live very soon.

The View of the Lake at The Chalet

The Seagull is set by a lake so the perfect settng

View from the house at The Chalet, Caterham

Lucky audience get to look at this view as they watch THE SEAGULL and the sun setting

Ornamental Ponds with Dolphins and Angels at The Chalet Caterham Gardens

Real Dolphins can often be seen @minacktheatre and the idyllic outdoor setting of our Caterham Venue for THE SEAGULL has Dolphins too

Wishing Well at The Chalet Caterham

Make a Wish for a ticket to see Another Way Theatre's modern adaptation of THE SEAGULL at The Chalet, Tupwood Lane, Caterham CR3 6ET www.anotherwaytheatre.co.uk

Thank you so much to @joemcneice for his crisp and clear design for our SEAGULL POSTER. @MinackTheatre Logo still to be added and @CaterhamFest Poster still in the process but we are very excited to publish this beautiful image

As I write Rosie (Age 7) and Chris are currently having a go at designing this year's SMORGASBARD 2015 Poster for The Caterham Festival this year @CaterhamFest Thanks @andyparr18 for giving Rosie the collection of Shakespeare books in 2012 after we performed A Midsummer Night's Dream in Queen's Park in Caterham when the audience stuck it out through wind & rain on Midsummer's Evening.

Another Way Theatre will again be collaborating with The Arc Theatre School to produce Smorgasbard 2015 on Friday 19 June, Saturday 20 June at 7.45 at The Soper Hall and Sunday 21 June at 3pm in The Chalet Gardens, Tupwood Lane, Caterham CR3 6ET (by kind arrangement with David Gold)